I’ve been debating trying another insulin(yet again) Regular-don’t get me started, lasts forevver. Humalog…still lasts too long.(up to 5 hours) Novolog…has a nasty little tail that hits between 3 and 3.5 hours.(as its finishing off) Novolog’s the best of the lot but I’m thinking maybe its time to try Apidra.
Anyone out there use Apidra? how did it compare to the other fast acting insulins for you?(I know they say there’s not much of a diff. but there is)
I’ve been thinking of trying apidra also. I’ve been experiencing a lot of clogs with humalog. I’d like to know if any pumpers have switched for the clog problem.
Hey Heidi,
I have actually been trying out all 3 to compare them, so far it seems like Apidra works faster for me. You should ask your doctor if they have any free samples of Apidra so you can give it a try, I was able to get a whole bunch of both Apidra and Novolog to experiment with. I experienced a lot of prolonged highs followed by unexpected lows hours later with Humalog, when I tried Novolog the same thing happened, only a lot worse (could have been a bad vial though). I just started round 2 with Apidra and it seems to drop me really fast but I’m having fewer lows. I’m posting about my experiences with the different analogs as I go on my blog at www.teamsweetpea.com
First, realize that not one, but at least 3 comprehensive meta analyses (see IQWiG, Institut für Qualität und Wirtschaftlichkeit im Gesundheitswesen; “Rapid-acting insulin analogues in diabetes mellitus type 1: Superio…”; 06 Jun 2007 for details of a fairly recent study done in Germany, another was done in Canada last year which found the same result) have proven that rapid-acting insulin analogs do NOT deliver superior glycemic control. Although many people swear otherwise, having tried every rapid-acting analog and I’m starting to believe that they’re a drug company scam. In my experience, they’re all basically no better than regular, although do differ on claims against long-acting analogs, but just realize that the motivation of the drug companies is to make money and keep us well enough to stay alive, but sick enough to require their product for life. Also, your own diabetes mileage may vary with every insulin, but the simple fact is that insulin analogs are not insulin, and there has never been any long-term trials of these products, the people now using them are the long-term trials!
I would also refer you to a useful article regarding insulin dosages published in Diabetes Health magazine about how smaller dosages work much more rapidly than larger doses, so your dosage size may influence how quickly it goes to work and how long your dose lasts. Also, realize that U-40 insulin (no longer sold in the U.S. except for animals such as dogs and cats) also work much more rapidly than more concentrated U-100 insulin.
Having said all of this, my own experience with each of the rapid-acting analogs was as follows:
Humalog: Worked fastest, but also had the shortest duration of activity
Novolog: Did not reduce my blood glucose for at least 3 hours (so much for the 15 minute claim) and easily lasted about 8 hours, making it more expensive regular insulin in my own experience.
Apidra: Fell somewhere in between Humalog and Novolog both in terms of speed of action and duration of activity.
Just remember, these are MY experiences, and your own personal experience will very likely differ. No two people experience things the same way, so as they say “YMMV” (your mileage may vary).
Apidra works extremely quickly for me, but I use very small doses. I also don’t try to cover a lot of carb, so I don’t use more than 3 units which will cover 45 grams or so of fast carbs. It seems to be pretty much gone at 2 hours I haven’t been using a lot of it as I’ve been keeping my carbs low of late and just using up the samples my doctor gave me.
Novolog worked well for me but it was not quite as fast as Apidra. It is gone at 3 hours. I did end up gaining weight while using it, possibly because I could inject at the time I ate and didn’t have to plan ahead, which made it easier to eat a lot more junk.
I could never get Humalog to work properly. I’d go high and then low no matter how I timed it. Oddly, I heard from someone else diagnosed with MODY who had the identical response to Humalog.
R worked for me if I waited an hour before eating. The plus with R was I didn’t gain any weight the whole time I was using it (almost 2 years) and I didn’t need a basal (or metformin) because it seemed to last long enough to lower my fasting bg too. (Remember, with MODY there is still some basal production left.)
I have an oddball type of diabetes, so my results probably don’t mean much except for people with other forms of diabetes that require tiny doses of insulin.
I use Apidra and have been using it for a couple of years now, actually. My doctor asked if I’d be willing before it was commercially available but was still FDA approved. I don’t really see how it’s much different than Humalog, personally. It’s definitely faster than Regular. With Apidra, I find that the peak happens a little earlier, which I like. You can take it after you eat, even, and it will still peak correctly.